Japanese Traveling Again

Faced with World Wide Threats to Safety Japanese Holidaymakers Show Resilience.

(12/1/2002) The Associated Press reports that the Japanese are displaying a new-found mettle in the face of world-wide terror attacks with large numbers expected to travel abroad over the coming holiday seasons.

According to the report, leading Japanese tour operators are reporting a 147% increase in bookings for December as compared to the same month one year earlier. Should this trend continue, numbers will clock in at 92% of December bookings in 2000, prior to the September 11 terror attacks in the U.S.A..

Among the most popular Japanese destinations this holiday season are China which is up 206 %, Europe demonstrating an 187% increase, and Canada and the U.S.A. showing an 162% improvement.

Still Cautious Towards the U.S.A.

While Japanese arrivals to the U.S.A. are up considerably over 2002, current figures still lag some 52% behind 2001 figures, prior to the travel downturn occasioned by 9-11.

Bali's Prospects

Despite an official downgrading in Japanese Government travel warnings for Bali, Japanese arrivals remain depressed following the October terror attack with some Bali operators claiming Japanese business is running between 10-15% of normal levels. Meanwhile, many Japanese tour operators are reporting robust Japanese forward bookings for Bali over the Christmas and New Year period.